World Pool Masters Expands to 64 Billiard Players

Matchroom Sport are delighted to announce that the 2010 PartyPoker.net World Pool Masters will take place from Wednesday 12th to Sunday 16th May at the Riviera Hotel and Casino, Las Vegas, Nevada.

And following 17 years as a 16 player invitational event, this year will see major changes to one of the longest established tournaments in pool. The field will expand to 64 players and the tournament will take place over five days instead of the traditional three.

Working in conjunction with Cuesports International, the Masters takes place during the annual BCA National 8-Ball Championships, which sees thousands of players and fans flock to the Riviera for a lengthy festival of pool.

The 64 player line up will comprise 32 international stars of the game from around the world and they will be joined 32 qualifiers who will have won through events across the globe in the run up to the main event in May.

‘The Race to Vegas’ will be getting underway with the first qualifier in Paris on Sunday 14th February and then events come thick, with tournaments scheduled from as far afield as Australia, Japan, USA, Canada as well as most of the major European countries.

Commented Matchroom Sport Chairman Barry Hearn, “I am very excited about the future of the Masters. It did very well and was very prestigious as a 16 player invitational but now is the time to take the event to another level and then beyond.

Matchroom Sport are delighted to announce that the 2010 PartyPoker.net World Pool Masters will take place from Wednesday 12th to Sunday 16th May at the Riviera Hotel and Casino, Las Vegas, Nevada.

“We’ve increased the field to 64 with the aim of having qualifying tournaments all over the world and that is the model the Masters will follow now and in years to come.

“It gives every aspirational pool player in the world the chance to play in Vegas in one of the game’s biggest competitions and compete against the superstars of pool.

“It is my every intention to build the World Pool Masters up into an event comparable to the World Championship when Matchroom Sport promoted it from 1999 to 2007.”

The first two days of the event feature double elimination play on a multi-table set-up as the field reduces from 64 down to 32.

The event then goes to single elimination and the last 16 is played out in a single table arena setting in front of the TV cameras, culminating in the final on the evening of Sunday 16th May.

Television is produced by Matchroom Sport and will be seen as 15 x one hour programmes in 14 countries around the world with more to be added to the list.

The prize fund is set at a guaranteed $100,000 with $20,000 going to the eventual champion.

Notes: Matchroom Sport are one of the world’s leading producers of televised sport and are responsible for over 1,100 hours of original programming across a range of nine sports. Based in the UK and chaired by charismatic founder Barry Hearn, the World Pool Masters is one of a stable of pool events that include the World Cup of Pool and the Mosconi Cup.

The 2010 World Pool Masters is sponsored by PartyPoker.net. Tables are supplied by Brunswick Billiards, cloth by Iwan Simonis, Super Aramith balls by Saluc and the Official Cue is Predator.